Rubber working machine



Oct. 11, 1932. F. H. BANBURY RUBBER WORKING MACHINE Filed Nov. 28. 1927 INVENTOR m Lm A W Patented Oct. 11, 1932 rnanLnY H. BANBURYQoF ANSONIA,

connncrrcnnnssIcnoR To rnannnnmlvune HAM coMPAmr, nconronnrnnor ANSONIA, connncrrcunqn .conronnqsion, o1

connncriour RUBBER, wonxme Mncfnnn i Application filed. November 28, 192?; seine; 23 ,137. a f

This invention relates t or the like, and aims to provements therein. 1 3

The invention is particularly d-irected' to 0 rubber machinery machines for working rubberor rubber com tubing or extrudpositions, such as mixers,

1 In mosti cases mg machines or the like."

where a somewhat plastic rubber composition is worked heat is rapidly generated, and this '18 particularly true in rubber mixers of various types, the function of which is to thoroughly mix the rubberand other ingredi; 2 ents to form rubber compositions suitable for" tires, mechanical rubber goods, etc. The same heat conditions chines and thelike. i

In the well-known Banbury mixers which have becomestandard in the art, the composition is mixed by a smearing or kneadingaction due to the rotation of a blade or blades around the interior wall of a cylinder or 'cyla inders. This method of-mixing which has to, a considerable extent superseded other methods, is also subject to the rapid development of heat in the batch being mixed and in the walls of the mixer itself. It has heretofore been assumed inthe art thatthemost eifec-. tive method of cooling the machines and the batches contained thereiniwas to water jacket the cylindersand to pass a stream of cooling water continuously through the jacket and in most cases through the interior of the rotors themselves. 7 i 1 l In former years where sulphur was largely relied upon as the vulcanizing agent a suf ficiently low temperature has been main-I tainedby such 'methods of water cooling, since with such compositionsthere is no important tendency to vulcanize .in the machines under 230 F. In recent years, h owever, the use of accelerators in the rubber composition has become practically univcra sal, and such compositions almost invariably vulcanize at a lower temperature, 'it ibeing 7 often dangerous-to the batch to permit its temperature to rise above 200?. Rubber compositions with such accelerators have proven so valuable in the rubber trade that their advantages have largely outweighed the increaseddifliculties of mixing without provide certain imher concerns have] prevail in. tubing ma-* ,EtClZlOll is not partial vulcanizatiombut as the oriticaltem perature' of the batch has beenreduced',more

and more difliculty has. been occasionedmaintaining the relativelylow temperatures requiredl No othercoolingmeans hfashere tofore been discovered which has been more eiiicient than"waterejacketing,and vigorous eifortshave been made to bring such wateracket systems up p to the cooling requirements of the' 'newe'r compositions. Numbers of rubrefrigerating plants wherein the cooling waterhasbeen lar very'cos'tly to erectand maintain, and their always I eificient and" reliable. The problemof producing an inexpensive and elfective cooling system applicable. to existing conditions in various parts of the country has been so far as I am aware an unsolved one up to the present invention. Large quantities of used in the production of rubber goods and the 'sourcefrom which said waterhasbeen obtainable range from deep wells to shallow tween'them a V I a Inmy investigations of the problem I have found that insall water-jacketing systems on 1y a very small percentage of the water actu gone so far as toinstall 7 I p gely r'educ'edin tempera ture, butsuchrefrigeratingplants have been cooling water are necessarily lakes with a w'ide spread in temperaturebe Y ally comes in contact with the surfaces to be a cooled, and that'this contact is mostineflicient in producing theinecessary heat interchange between thesurfaces tobe, cooled and'lthe cooling water. It is my belief that a large percentage ,of the water flows idly through the center or middle parts of the passages while a smaller percentage actually sweeps past the surfaces and-probably proceeds? at alower rate of speed, sluggishlymoving 'to-f ward the outlet. I also believe that there is in the use ofwater-jackets a thin filmfof water which mightbe said to adhere to the surfaces with the effect that the conduction of heat to the main body is slowand ineffective.

These conditions dov not greatly improve even when inordinate quantities of-water are used,:and while refrigeration of the water is helpful, it does not solve the problem-'be- V found that these Various eration can be done cause of its ineffective application to the surface to be cooled.

After considerable experiment I have disadvantages can be practically completely'avoided; that refrigaway with; and that cooling watersv of a wide range of temperature stantial angle to such can be used while still maintaining the necessary low degree of temperature in the mixers.

may then rebound from or-otherwise leave the cooling surface n such a way as not to in- By the terferewith' the oncoming spray-v method ofgdirect impingement, apparently p yi Pip m y the interchange of heat'between the surface tov be cooled and the water is greatly 1ncreased, so that per second of time with a given area of cooling surface I am enabled to abstract from the lattera considerably greater number of heat units than I believe to be possible with the water-jacket system under analogous conditions. i

Where the use of water on the cooling surface is not disadvantageous,

be arranged on the exterior of the machine,

. place these pipes within a water-j acketsurf that of the water.-

line 11 in Fig. 2.

roundingthe surfaces to be cooled, so that spattering of water around the machines is avoided,"thewater being let ofi' by the ordinary exitpipe. It is much preferable, of course, to proportion the passages and pipe so that drainage will be rapid and the passages-will never become filled .or clogged with water. 7 i r 7 By the system provided by the present invention the water may be-reused for a considerable length of time, of-course, that its temperature be not permitted torise too. greatly, since, of course, in any system the'interchange of heat is more rapid in proportion to the temperature differential between the surface to be cooled and In the drawing wherein I have illustrated the invention as applied to the well-known Banbury mixer,- a V Figure 1 is a vertical cross section of one t of mixer taken approximately on the Fig.2 is a section Fig. 3 is a section through one side of the 1 device taken on'theline 3-3 in Fig. 1. i

FigA is a sectional view of a form of nozzle which may be used. 1 r 7 V from the machine lmpingement takes place the outside of but customarily I it being preferable, I

taken on the line 2-2111 In the type of machine which I have chosen to illustrate my invention, namely, the standard Banbury mixer, A and B are two cylindrical members within which rotate the rotors C and D respectively. These rotors rotatein opposite directions and have advancing surfaces in the form'of blades which form an acuteangle with the cylinder walls in the direction of rotation, and thereby smear the rubber'mixture against the cylinder walls, picking it up andkneading it and feeding it toward the longitudinal center of the mixer, the batch-being forced from one cylinder to the other in its travel, and finally being taken 'to a center door or gate, such, as F, arranged'in the lower-part of the section between the two cylinders, which door 7 a is shown as constructedjtoopen by sliding. The rotors CandD are preferably hollow, as shown. 1

It will be seen from the cross-section of Fig. I 1. that II provide. an exterior waterjacket G for the cylinders, and Within this water-jacket I locate a plurality of spray pipes H whose "nozzles are directed, toward the surfaces to be cooled: The jetsissuing from the nozzles spread somewhat before reaching such surfaces, but in any eventthe great bulk of the water forming the jets im-- pinge-against the surfaces to be cooled at a substantial angle, as distinguished from flowing along the surfaces in aparallel direction. .Water may be introduced into the spray pipes in any suitable way as throughthe supply pipes leading to a reservoir which is not shown in thedravving. The water discharged from the lower part of the machine through passages K K may flowback into the reservoir through a suitable'pump, if reservoir pressure is relied upon initially to 7 cause the flow. A liberal quantity of water should be used but this maybe repeatedly reused. The conditions' of water supply and cost vary so widely that no specific directions can be given, but generally speaking, with an adequate supply at a temperature of water at 55 to the latter may 'be'reused acon siderable number of times, each passage} through the machine" perhaps raising {its temperature from 1 t0'2. .Where water is ob tained practically without cost, reusing is, of

course, not necessary or desirable.

In the construction shown, similar spray pipes L may be used to cool the rotors C and D, such pipes being led in and discharged through the ends of the 'rotor,as shownat MandNrespectively. It will also be noted that the walls of the. cylinder may be strengthened by fins O O which-to some extent also aid in the cooling,

these fins being -more or'less bathed with spray water. Perforations P permit escape of the water.- I

r I may use asa spraying system a mere her composition between them, a closure for the pressure behind the spray should be adequate to compel the drops to make contact with the surface to be cooled. I have found a pressure often pounds on the water is ample, although lower pressures may be used, and higher pressures also. The usual pressures now commonly employed for water circulation in jackets can hence ordinarily be availed of without change.

It is best that each particle of water used should impinge against a part of the surface to be cooled at an angle which is suflicient 1 to cause a direct impact against the surface,

so that each particle of water is brought into intimate contact with the surface. I have found in practice that the water may be projected against the surfaces by air pressure,

such as by the well-known atomizing mechanisms, if this be desired.

WVhile I have shown and described one form of the invention, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto, as various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

lVhat I claim is: r

1. In a rubber working machine, the'meth od of cooling the working surfaces of the mixing chamber, which comprises spraying the cooling medium directly against the rear of said surfaces and withdrawing the sprayed medium so as to avoid an accumulation of such medium which would interfere with the continued spraying action.

2. In a rubber working machine, the method of cooling the working surfaces of the mixing chamber, which comprises spraying the cooling water directly against the rear said cylinder forming a cooling chamber with means for supplying a cooling fluid in the form of spray directly'to the exterior of said cylinder, and means for permitting the: free escape of said cooling fluid from said casing whereby to avoid substantial accumulation of the cooling fluid in said casing.

5. A rubber mixer having a cylinder. and

rotor adapted to knead or smear the composition between them andthe'cylinder having spraying means located around .it, with means for supplying a cooling fluid to said spraying means, the parts being constructed to permit the free escape of the cooling fluid so that continuous spraying without inter ference of an accumulated body of cooling fluid is secured, and said spraying means acting to deliver the spray against the sur- 3 face to be cooled at substantially a right angle to the latter.

6. A rubber machine having a rotor having a hollow interior,-means for spraying a cooling fluid against the upper side of the interior wall of said rotor, and means for drainlng the fluid from said rotor, so as to heayie said upper side free from accumulated 7.- -A rubber mixer having a pair of cylin I ders and a pair of rotors formed to smear the rubber composition against the interior walls ofsaid cylinders, means for spraying the exterior of said cylinders with a cooling fluid, a jacket for enclosing said means, means for spraying the upper side of the interior walls of said rotors with a cooling fluid, and means for draining the cooling fluid after being so sprayed with sufficient rapidity to prevent accumulated fluid in the path of the spray. 1

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

FERNLEY BANB Y.

of said surfaces, and rapidly draining off the i ference of an accumulated body of cooling fluid is secured.

4. A rubber mixer having a cylinder and a rotor adapted to knead or smear the rub- 

